Separator



March 25, 1941. M. H. KUHNER SEPARATOR Filed Aug. 18, 1958 MAX H K'UHNER i'iii Patented Mar. 25, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEPARATOR Application August 18, 1938, Serial No. 225,590

7 Claims-. (01. 183-75) This invention relates to separators for separating suspended particles from gases, and more particularly to apparatus adapted for installation in a drum of a steam boiler and arranged to remove suspended moisture from the steam.

Many different constructions have been proposed heretofore for this purpose, but for the most part they have been comparatively ineffective, and such prior arrangements as do operate efficiently are very bulky and expensive.

It is accordingly one object of the invention to provide a simple and inexpensive separator which will be highly efiicient in removing suspended particles from the gas passing therethrough.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an efficient steam separator which will be of comparatively compact construction and adapted for installation in a boiler drum without unduly obstructing the interior thereof.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawing illustrating one embodiment of the invention, and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a steam boiler. showing the relationship of the steam separator to the various parts of the boiler;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section through the steam-- and-water drum of the boiler;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a steam separator, partially broken away for clearness of illustration;

Fig. i is a vertical section through the separator, taken on the line 4-4 oi. Fig. 5; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section on the line 55 of Fig i.

The steam boiler illustrated in Fig. 1 is of a well-known type and comprises a rear horizontal steam-and-water drum I which is connected by a bank of upright water tubes II to a horizontal water drum l2 therebeneath. The drum i2 is connected by a bank of upwardly and forwardly sloping water tubes l4 to a horizontal water drum I at the front of the boiler, and this drum i5 is connected to the steam-and-water drum ill by a bank of upwardly and rearwardly sloping water tubes iii. A horizontal steam drum I8 is mounted above the drum l5 and connected to the drum In by a row of tubes l9 which support the roof 20 of the boiler. Walls 22 form a combustion chamber 23 beneath the tubes l4, and bafiies 24 direct the hot gases from the combustion chamber into contact with the tube banks I4, l6 and H successively and thence to ages outlet 25 in the rear of the drum It. It will be apparent that with this construction steam will be generated in the tube banks l4 and I6, and the 5 tubes Hi will deliver a mixture of steam and water to the drum III. The tubes ii will serve as down-comers to maintain a ring flow circulation. The steam will leave the drum l0 through the tubes l9 and pass to the drum it, from which it is withdrawn to a place of use. The present invention provides an improved means for removing suspended moisture from the steam before it leaves the drum ID to enter the tubes l9.

Referring now to Fig. 2, it will be seen that there is mounted within the drum ID a steam battle 2! having its front edge connected to the wall of the drum in front of the inlet ends of the tubes l9. Beneath and spaced from the battle 21 there is provided a steam baiile 28 having its front edge spaced from the front wall of the drum and its rear edge located below the level of the water in the drum. Near each end of the drum there is provided a vertical plate 29 arranged perpendicular to the axis of the drum and welded or otherwise secured to the upper and rear portions of the drum wall. These plates 29 are also secured to the lateral edges of the baiiles 21 and 28. With this construction there is provided' a downwardly and rearwardly inclined 30 passage 3| between the baflies 21 and 28, and a passage 32 which extends forwardly above the baille 21 to the tubes i9. The steam which enters the drum from the tubes I6 is compelled to fiow rearwardly through the passage 3!, upwardly 35 around the rear edge of the bafiie 21, and thence forwardly through the passage 32. Much of the water which is carried into the passage 3| by the steam will be thrown out of the steam by the combined effect of gravity and centrifugal force as the steam passes upwardly around the rear edge of the bailie 21. However, the finer particles of water will remain suspended in the steam, and it is important to remove these particles.

For this purpose I provide an improved steam separator 34 comprising a rectangular box-like structure having an upper wall 35'and a lower wall 36 connected by upright end walls 31. This structure is mounted in an upwardly and forwardly inclined position in the steam passage 32, and for convenience in supporting the separator I have shown flanges 39 at its rear or entrance end which may be attached to a suitable frame 40 secured to the wall of the drum. The walls 35, 36 and 31 enclose a space or passage 4| 55 through which the steam is compelled to flow in a generally upward and forward direction on its way to the tubes I 9, It will be understood that several of the separators 34 may be arranged in an end to end relationship along the drum, the number required depending upon the length of the drum. Each separator is preferably of a length selected with due regard to convenience in handling and installing the same.

Suitable deflector elements 43 are mounted within the passage 4|, and they are shown as upright hollow bars extending from the upper wall 35 to the lower wall 38 and perpendicular to these walls. Because of the position of the separator within the drum, the bars 43 are inclined upwardly and rearwardly when the separator is installed, Each bar 43 is preferably 0- shaped in cross-section, with the closed side of the C faced toward the on-coming steam. Preferably each bar is formed of comparatively thin sheet metal shaped to provide a plane surface 44 at the closed side of the O and a pair of in-turned flanges 45 at the open side thereof (Fig. 5). The bars are arranged in rows, with the bars in adjacent rows staggered, as shown particularly in Fig. 5. With this construction the concave surface of each bar faces toward the outlet end of the passage and defines a sheltered zone which communicates freely and directly with the space between two bars in the next row in the direction of gas flow. For convenience in supporting the bars 43, their upper ends are inserted in rectangular openings in a flat plate 41 (Fig. 4) which is welded or otherwise secured to the lower face of the upper wall 35. A plate 48 is provided above and spaced from the lower wall 36 and preferably parallel thereto, this plate being formed with rectangular openings 49 through which the bars 43 extend. The plate 48 and the wall 35 form respectively the upper and lower walls of abox 58 which is closed at its rear end to prevent the direct entrance of steam thereto. A drain pipe 5| leads downwardly from the rear end of the box 50 to a point below the surface of the water in the drum. This pipe is preferably provided with a small vent opening 52 above the water level.

At the front or outlet end of the separator there is provided a baffle 54 which is generally U-shaped in cross-section, as shown particularly in Fig. 4, with the concave side of the baffle facing toward the on-coming steam. The lower edge of this baille 54 is connected to the front edge of the lower wall 86, and the upper edge of the bafile is spaced slightly above the front edge of the plate 48.

The operation of the invention will now be apparent from the above disclosure. A mixture of steam and water enters the drum I 0 from the tubes l6, and a large part of the water is immediately separated from the steam by gravity. The steam, with considerable suspended moisture, flows rearwardly through the passage 3| and thence upwardly beneath the rear edge of the baffle 21, this sudden change in the direction of flow causing the larger water particles to be thrown outwardly by the combined effect of gravity and centrifugal force. The steam then enters the separator 34, while carrying the finer water particles in suspension. Because of the construction and arrangement of the deflector elements 43, the steam will impinge upon the flat surfaces 44 and this impingement will cause the fine water particles to combine into larger particles which will be swept from these surfaces 46 by the flow of the steam. Because of the particular cross-sectional shape of the elements 43 and their arrangement relative to the steam flow, a comparatively sheltered zone is provided within the interior of each element which is thought to be at a slightly lower pressure than the spaces between the elements because of the ejector action brought about by the flow through these spaces. It is found in practice that the water particles will separate from the steam and enter these sheltered zones, and while the reason for this is not known with certainty it is believed to be largely the result of the lower pressure in these zones. Once the water has entered the sheltered zones, it descends by gravity, usually flowing along the interior surfaces of the elements 43. The flanges 45 aid in preventing escape of the water from the interior of the deflector elements. The downwardly flowing water particles pass through the openings 43 in the plate 48 into the box 50, and after reaching the bottom wall 36 the water flows rearwardly along this wall by gravity to the pipe 51 and downwardly through this pipe to mix with the water in the drum. The vent 52 tends to equalize the pressure inside the pipe with that outside the pipe and thus prevent water from being drawn up through the, pipe, possibly flooding the separator. The plate 48 serves to shelter the space therebeneath from the flowing steam and facilitates removal of the water. There is a tendency, however, for steam to flow downwardly through the openings 49, and if this should occur to any great extent the steam might pick up water from the upper surface of the lower wall 36 and carry it through the separator. This possibility is prevented by the action of the U-shaped baflle 54 which extends upwardly to receive the impact of the lower portion of the current of steam passing through the separator. This impact produces a back pressure which is transmitted to the interior of the box 50 and is preferably just suflicient to establish a balanced condition in this box, with substantially no flow of steam therethrongh. The baiiie 54 also collects any water which may be swept off the top of the plate 48 by the steam, and directs this water into the box 50. Since the box terminates adjacent the baffle, there is no opportunity for steam to flow through the box beyond the battle and subsequently return to the passage.

Experiments on a commercial scale have demonstrated that the apparatus disclosed is highly eflicient in the removal of moisture from steam. This apparatus is of an unusually compact construction, well adapted for installation in the drums of various types of steam boilers, and comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for separating suspended particles from gas comprising walls forming a hollow box, means providing a passage for the flow of gas directly above the box, deflector elements located in the passage and arranged to collect particles from the gas, the upper wall of the box having openings therein through which the particles may descend into the box, means for discharging the particles from the box, and a baffle at the outlet end of the passage arranged to receive the impact of a portion of the gas and trans fer the impact pressure thereof into the box, the box terminating adjacent said baille.

2. Apparatus for separating suspended particles from gas comprising walls forming a hollow box, means providing a passage for the flow of gas directly above the box, deflector elements located in the passage and arranged to collect particles from the gas, the upper wall of the box having openings therein through which the particles may descend into the box, means for discharging the particles from the box, and a baflie extending across the width of passage at the outlet end thereof arranged to receive the impact of the lower portion of the gas stream and to collect any particles which are swept thereby from the upper wall of the box and to direct such particles into the box, the box terminating adjacent said baflle.

3. A steam separator comprising walls forming a hollow box, means providing a passage for the flow of steam directly above the box, upright deflector elements located in the passage and arranged'to collect moisture from the steam, the

upper wall of the box having openings therein through which the moisture may descend by gravity into the box, means providing a drain for the box, and a baflie at the. outlet end of the passage arranged to receive the impact of a portion of the steam and transfer the impact pressure thereof into the box.

4. A steam separator comprising walls forming a hollow box, means providing a passage for the flow of steam directly above the box, upright defiector elements located in the passage and arranged to collect moisture from the steam, the

' upper wall of the box having openings therein through which the moisture may descend by gravity into the box, means providing a drain for the box, and a bafflegextending across the width of the passage at the outlet end thereof arranged to receive the impact of the lower portion of the steam and to collect any moisture which is swept thereby from the upper wall of the box and to direct such moisture into the box.

5.- Apparatus for separating suspended particles from gas comprising walls forming a hollow box, means providing a passage for the flow of gas directly above the box, upright deflector elements located in the passage and arranged to collect particles from the gas, the upper wall of the box having openings therein through which the particles may descend by gravity into the box, means to discharge the particles from the box, and a substantially horizontal baflie at the outlet end of the passage having a U-shaped crosssection with its concave surface facing toward the oncoming gas, the upper edge of the baflle being above the upper wall of the box and the lower edge being below the same, the box being open adjacent the bailie to receive particles which are collected thereby.

6. Apparatus for separating suspended particles from gas comprising a hollow box having an upper wall provided with a series of openings therein and a bottom wall, walls providing a passage for the flow of gas directly above the box, upright deflector elements located in the passage with their lower portions extending downwardly through the openings to the bottom wall, the openings being so shaped that the deflector elements do not close them entirely but allow the particles which are collected by the said elements to descend therethrough into the box, and means for discharging the particles from the box.

7. Apparatus for separating suspended particles from gas comprising walls providing a passage for the flow of gas in a generally horizontal direction, and spaced upright deflectorelements arranged in rows across the passage with the elements in adjacent rows staggered, each element being so shaped in cross-section as to provide a substantially plane surface extending transversely of the passage and directly exposed to the oncoming gas so that the gas stream will impinge thereon at substantially a right angle, each element also providing a sheltered zone which is in free and direct communication with the space between two elements in the next row in the direction of gas flow.

MAX H. KUHNER. 

